Final Stats

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor baseball rallied from behind to top Washington 9-5 for the first win of the Steve Rodriguez era on Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (1-1) overcame a 3-0 deficit with a seven-run sixth inning to even the season-opening series with the Huskies (1-1).

After missing out on several early scoring chances, BU started to chip away at the 3-0 UW lead in the fifth inning. With Levi Gilcrease on second after a single and Kameron Esthay on first after a walk, Darryn Sheppard delivered a two-out RBI double down the left field line.

BU starter Drew Tolson settled in for scoreless fourth and fifth innings before reliever Joe Heineman came on to hold the 3-1 deficit in the sixth.

In Baylor's half of the sixth, a huge two-out rally ensued. Justin Arrington started it with an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error at second base. Josh Bissonette followed with an RBI single to center. After a Gilcrease HBP, Esthay single up the middle to tie the game. A Matt Menard walk to load the bases forced UW to bring in reliever Spencer Jones, who was greeted with a sharp two-run single to center off the bat of Sheppard. A fielding error in center on the play allowed a third run to score and moved Sheppard to second base. The crushing blow then came by way of a Richard Cunningham two-run home run to right field for an 8-3 lead.

In the seventh, the Bears added an insurance run as Steven McLean drew a leadoff walk and scored on an Arrington double to right-center.

The Huskies cut into Baylor's 9-3 lead with a two-run homer by Josh Cushing in the eighth, but it was all they could muster as Heineman ended the frame with a double play and Troy Montemayor tossed a hitless ninth with one walk and two strikeouts to secure the victory.

Heineman (1-0) earned the win in relief for BU after giving up two runs on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts in three innings. UW's Alex Nesbitt (0-1) took the loss, giving up five runs on three hits and one walk in 0.2 innings.

NOTES
*Baylor and Washington met for the first time ever Friday, and the series is now tied 1-1.

*Steve Rodriguez is now 4-4 against Washington as a head coach.

*Drew Tolson posted a career-high eight strikeouts in five innings of work.

*Richard Cunningham posted his first collegiate run, two-hit game, home run, RBI and two-RBI game.

*Kameron Esthay went 2-for-4 for his first multi-hit game of the season.

*Darryn Sheppard went 2-for-4 with three RBI for his first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of the season.

*Justin Arrington notched his first multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4.

*Josh Bissonette had his first collegiate run, hit and RBI.

*Joe Heineman earned his first career win in his Baylor debut.

*Baylor's pitchers racked up 13 strikeouts as each pitcher had at least two.

STAT OF THE GAME
7 -- The amount runs and consecutive batters that reached base safely with two outs in the sixth inning.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"It was fun. It was fun just because everybody has a little bit more fun playing when they know they have a little bit of a lead. I guess the biggest thing is that it is a long season, so being able to get this first win under the belt for all of us I think just minimizes some of the stress. We're just wanting guys to compete, we talk about it all the time, having the ability to execute and to be able to control your effort. If you can control your effort and if you can execute the same way, then you're going to be okay when it comes down to the end of the game." -- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor continues its season-opening, three-game series with the rubbermatch Sunday at 12:05 p.m. on FOX Sports Plus. The pitching matchup features BU RHP Nick Lewis (4-2, 4.14 ERA in 2015) against UW LHP Will Ballowe (0-0, 4.50 ERA in 2015).